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I'm really disappointed with some of the scales for components to Devastator

Scavenger - way too big. I think that a 7-vehicle team could have averted this problem.

Mixmaster - again, way too big.

Long Haul - way too SMALL! This dumptruck should be huge - larger than Mixmaster's cement mixer, I'd think. Instead he's Deluxe size when at least the standard figure is a Voyager.

HighTower - wasn't he in Police Academy? Well, he's fine. I'd say that either a Deluxe or Voyager would satisfy him having an individual figure. Probably a Voyager would work.

Scrapper - he's too big. This should be a Deluxe figure if he gets an idividual one made.

Rampage - he's fine. His Deluxe figure is also about right.

I'd have had Long Haul form an arm of Devastator if they were going to make him so big. They have claws for hands underneath HighTower. They could have done the same with Long Haul if they wanted Devastator's arms to be bigger than his legs (sort of ape-like if you ask me). But then the movie and toy designs wouldn't correlate.

The Legends Class Mudflap (and later to be released Skids) are the correct size to fight Devastator. The Deluxe would be too large, except next to Scavenger and Mixmaster.

Devastator only looks to be assembled in the packaging. He's not. Which makes him easier (cough-cough) to remove from the box.

I have now transformed all the components to vehicles. They are really, really simple transformations probably with the intentions that a child could do it, and not just one of those 35-year-olds-going on 5 years old who might splurge to buy this thing.

Overall I don't regret my purchase, but I'm not as excited about it as Human Alliance BumbleBee or Leader Class ROTF Optimus Prime.

Long Haul - way too SMALL! This dumptruck should be huge - larger than Mixmaster's cement mixer, I'd think. Instead he's Deluxe size when at least the standard figure is a Voyager.

Long Haul is an earthmover, about 20 times as large as a regular dump truck, so he should indeed be WAAAAAAY bigger.

I have now transformed all the components to vehicles. They are really, really simple transformations probably with the intentions that a child could do it, and not just one of those 35-year-olds-going on 5 years old who might splurge to buy this thing.

You guys are always complaining that new figures are too hard to transform, well here ya go. Nah, I'm kidding you, I saw how painfully simple that thing was, it's ridiculous. And they have some nerve asking $100, I bet we get another Queen's Naboo Starship debacle and it drops to $50 or $60. That box was a $50 figure in the last few years, and those were more complex than this sounds to be.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

Well, I put Devastator together and I have robot-mode Mudflap and vehicle mode Dune Runner as prisoners in his claws. I took pictures of the Constructicon set in both modes. I'll post them when I download my camera.

Overall, I'm glad I bought this set.

I'll be getting a Legends Skids when they make him, and probably buying 2 more Dune Runners to use as military vehicles, and possibly a Desert Brawl Deluxe figure. Otherwise I may look to those military vehicle replicas.

But so far as yet, all the things in my Transformers dioramas are actually Transformer-brand toys. Not that it matters: I use other line figures in my Star Wars dioramas.

No. SideSwipe is sitting right over on my kitchen counter (boxed still) but I've been entertained posting online and trying to beat the LA Dodgers with my Padres on Nintendo. (I'm still losing, but only by 3 runs. I know which pitchers to throw at them now. I just need to change my batters. I even put Tony Gwynn Jr. in at 2nd base to surprise them. I am trying EVERYTHING to beat those darn Dodgers!!! Grrrrrrrrrrr!)

UPDATE: I finally won and beat those Dodgers 4-3! .....and I opened and transformed SideSwipe.

SideSwipe is another great Human Alliance figure. He is not as good as BumbleBee in bot mode though. He has too much kibble on his back and it is too gaping wide for the space between the kibble and the rest of his body in bot form.

What's way cool is that you can slide his blade hands into a locking position so that when you turn the wheels on his arms, the blades spin!!! That is awesome! SideSwipe also launches a missile and has a double-barred shoulder mounted machine gun.

He gets as tall as BumbleBee - even taller if you include his doors - when you transform his wheeled feet properly. SideSwipe has breaks and foot extensions so he does not fall over.

The concept Corvette is so sweet! It blows every Alternator's car mode away except for the interior being cramped with transforming parts and therefore not as appealing in details.

I suspect when we finally see Barricade he could be done better, but Mudflap and Skids will have their challenges.

I picked up a few more TFs today: Ice Cream Twins, Scalpel, and HA Sideswipe. Here's my quick-take on the first 2, then a mini-review of the 3rd.

Ice Cream Twins: I couldn't resist an ice cream truck TF, especially this one, even though they still have those racist stereotype faces underneath. It's basically 2 kibbly scouts in 1 combiner, Skids is the more satisfying transformation and bot, while Mudflap is left with more kibble and less thought of what to do with it. I broke Mudflap's feet following the instructions, they don't flip up as claimed, but the break isn't major so I think he can stay with it. Both figures have spring-loaded heads during transformation, although Mudflap's head came deployed in package and it made NO difference to the alt mode (unless you count seeing it through the windows, which are otherwise kibble-free).

Scalpel: holy crap is this thing wild! It comes mistransformed in bot mode, a rather disappointing affair to be quite honest. Transforming back to microscope mode is a lot of "really?!?" but then it works (except for the housing halves that become the thorax, they pop off too easily and often), and you begin to see how friggin' crazy this guy really is. It's only once you get where stuff is supposed to go, how it folds away, what it does, where it couldn't be, and what the microscope becomes that you realize there's more going on. The microscope is great too, but then it's really transforming time, and time to throw away the instructions while you're at it because they're just dead wrong. The real bot that results is a bizarre, poorly-articulated, evil mantis of a robot, but he can really stand, he is fairly stable, and he's just indescribable. Definitely not for most collectors though.

HA Sideswipe:Alt Mode: Concept Stingray Corvette, and it is sooooo sweet! Nearly perfect in every respect, even the brake disks are painted silver and the calipers painted red inside the wheels. The silver paint is a little richer but basically the same. The headlights are painted blue behind translucent clear, the brake lights red behind clear. The windows are dark blue. The exhaust pipes just clear for whatever reason. The lack of seams anywhere is a huge benefit to this alt mode, although it is a bit telling for bot mode. And for god's sake, the doors really swing-wing forward, and they do it so swank! The only let-down would be the rather spartan and kibble-laden interior, with Sgt Epps' butt hanging off the outer side of the driver's seat. I do like the little foot-wells created by the back of the thighs though, that's clever. Man is this thing sexy to look at, and in comparison to HA BB, it's about the same length and width, but a much more believable height (BB in alt mode is way too high). Sure, if you look behind the rear wheels underneath you can barely make out some arm kibble, same from the back, but you have to work to find it.

Transformation: Starting with annoyance of folding parts that don't really have clearance, moving on to big panel chunks, then some unfolding and then surprising levels of compaction. It's not a pleasant transformation and it leaves too much shell parts on the back rather than filling in the rear of the torso. Getting it back is a little easier right up until the arms have to go back in, then it's a real battle of wills.

Bot Mode: Oh Sideswipe, how I wanted to dig you more than this. The bot mode is narrow in the shoulders and hips, has "chunky" sculpting, low and weak articulation, and lacks the finer details that BB enjoys. The sculpt is fair, some nice parts, but a few too many simplistic parts detract from that, and why the face has a flip-up nose-mask I'll never get. There are some clever bits, like the real wheel feet that work (although the instructions leave out a step that I consider crucial, hinging the insole around), and the spinning hands/swords is fun in a "why is this here?" manner, but there's not enough going on it the majority of the bot mode. Unlike BB, there is only 1 spot for the figure to hang out on, the driver's seat which ends up just behind the head so he can man the shoulder guns. The other seat turns into a missile launcher he cannot use. There are pegs on the upper arms, maybe he's supposed to sit there, but I'm not buying it. The eyes are light-piped, they're painted blue over clear plastic again, it shines through though and mainly works. The legs telescope down, and then they telescope back in a little too easily, although you can neuter the rear traveling piston to act as a brace. The paint seems simplistic even though there are a few fine details. Oddly, the tailpipes end up hidden behind kibble around his back rather than acting as the mortar launchers behind his head as seen in the movie. So why do these pipes move here?!? The figure might have not had such a weak effect if there had been an actual torso behind the facade plate in front rather than a big, obvious gap. Also hurting are the narrow hips which just don't look right and don't move enough, and the weak shoulders that can't even stay upright all the way.

Overall: C+
I wish I could give this a better rating. The alt mode alone is damned fine, a true winner. The transformation is unsatisfying however, and the bot mode is fair at best, not as fun or detailed as HA Bumblebee. I sure do like that car mode though, and the bot mode has a nice Transformers panel look about it, but I can't in good conscience give it anything higher than that C plus.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.